Irishman Steve Lennon got off to the perfect start at the latest ADC Winmau Championship North weekend. And for once, the former professional actually boasted some good results – his words, not mine.
Saturday morning rolled around and up turned Lennon at the Middlesbrough Sports Village, making a full SCUBA-style entrance. Hailing from Carlow, Steve tends to feel right at home on Teesside, where English is a language they both occasionally seem to wrestle with.
Onto the darts and, before you could say, “Lennon’s in the semi,” Lennon was in the semi. A colossal 107+ average proved more than enough to dispatch Carl Bachelor 5-2. Waiting for the 32-year-old next was Jack Main – a man who would happily make love to his own reflection if mirrors weren’t protected by health and safety legislation.
As well as Main played, Scuba Steve was once again on fire, smashing in another huge three-figure average and showing Jack who really was the Main man. There’s confidence, then there’s believing every reflective surface is flirting with you.
Then came a break. Most of the lads nipped out for a spot of lunch. Main popped off to the barbers for another blob of gel, a shampoo and set, a quick moisturiser and, naturally, a few selfies.
Before long, Lennon was at it once more. This time, he found himself facing the complete opposite of Jack Main in the narcissist stakes – Lewis Pride, a man who, if threatened with a razor, would probably run a mile.
Earlier, the Viking impersonator from North Yorkshire had hammered in a superlative 107.36 average. After that, though, things rather resembled a shopping trolley with three missing wheels rolling downhill. Unfortunate for Pride, but absolutely splendid for Lennon, who collected his second title of the day.
Sunday arrived and, with it, Scott Winder became the first man to enter the winner’s circle, whitewashing Danny Ayres in the final. The Montrose thrower survived a couple of close calls against Jordan Matthews and then Benjamin Smith in the semi-finals before overcoming the Challenge Tour high-flyer without too much drama in the showdown.
As a proud Scot, Winder can’t have been overly impressed with his nation once again failing to escape their World Cup group. Then again, by this point it’s become something of a footballing tradition for the Tartan Army. Anyway, the 37-year-old seemed happy enough once someone handed him a cheque for a grand, roughly the size of Jack Main’s vanity case.
Then, unlike the other lads in America, Scotland managed to pick up another win courtesy of the rising talent that is Danny Trueman. Monikered ‘The Show’ – a nickname that was almost handed to him on a plate when the film The Truman Show came out in 1998 – the man from the Granite City (Aberdeen, to save anyone reaching for Google) absolutely smashed past Adam Winspear in the quarters with an average higher than a crackhead on Welfare Day. A massive 109.61 which Danny was quick to point out was the biggest of the day. I know mate, it’s kinda what I do!
Trueman then got the better of Stuart Dutton in the semis, before clinching the deciding leg against Oliver Mitchell in the showpiece.
All in all, another action-packed weekend of arrows. A brace for Stevie Scuba, which is, in fact, an acronym, but I can’t be arsed putting it in capitals because it would just look daft. Then Scotland can add Winder and Trueman to this summer’s sporting success stories… alongside the mighty Haiti.
